Ornamental plaque sword holder



June 9, 1964 G. L. SELMYHR 3,136,513

ORNAMENTAL PLAQUE SWORD HOLDER Filed July 18, 1961 a 25 a. L. saw/m United States Patent 3,136,513 ORNAMENTAL PLAQUE SWORD HGLDER Garlen L. Seimyhr, 2200 Blossom Lane, Alexandria, Va. Filed July 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,884 3 Claims. (Cl. 24837.6)

The present invention relates to ornamental devices for wall adornment and having the additional useful purpose of storing and displaying a sword or saber when it is not otherwise in use.

Such devices are particularly desirable for officers of various military organizations, lodges, societies and the like where the officer must at times wear a sword in a scabbard but for day to day usage is not required to carry it. The present device holds or stores it conveniently out of the way, displays it as well as the insignia of the organization in a highly ornamental form suitable for mounting on Walls, over mantles, fireplaces or the like and may also mount a plate displaying the name and rank of the oflicer for identification purposes.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a novel ornamental plaque sword holder of the type described.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide an ornamental sword holder in the form of a shield of more or less conventionalized size and shape, preferably formed of highly polished wood or some similar satisfactorily appearing material, mounting on its face the insignia of the organization of which the owner of the sword is an active or a retired member and having in its rear face a channel for receiving the scabbard of the sword, which is the badge of the owners office or rank, and holding it at an angle across the shield thereby it is neatly stored and displayed and yet ready for use when desired.

An important object of the invention is to provide an ornamental plaque or shield having mounted on its front face an organizational insignia presented in has-relief and covering a substantial area of the plaque along with, if desired, a name plate and provided on its rear face with a diagonally disposed slot or groove sized to conveniently receive the intermediate section of the scabbard of a sword and having means for securing it in position whereby when the plaque is hung the lower and grip sections of the sword and scabbard project beyond the sides of the plaque for display along with the latter.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention with the understanding that such changes may be made both in appearance and functional features as fall within the scope of the appended claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevation of an ornamental plaque sword holder showing means for mounting the sword and supporting the plaque from a wall;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the same, showing the ornamental features; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

Ofiicers of military, honorary and fraternal organizations are required to possess swords indicative of rank when necessary on drill or the like, dress parades, and so on, and yet such weapons in peace times are but seldom required and are stored for considerable periods between uses. Storage at times is somewhat of a problem, particularly in cramped quarters where the sword in its scabbard must either be stored in a corner where it may fall or interfere with furniture or be hung from one of a meager number of hooks which should be available for 3,136,513 Patented June 9, 1964 other purposes. It may sometimes be put away too carefully and, thus, become the object of a hurried search when it is needed. The present invention provides a convenient manner for storing and displaying the sword and the emblem of the organization to which the owner belongs holding it against the wall, out of the way and not occupying any otherwise valuable storage space while presenting an ornamental and colorful plaque indicative of the owners afiiliation.

Referring now to the drawing, and first to FIGURE 2, there is shown at 10 a plaque of any desired configuration and material, but as preferred is manufactured from a high-grade, suitably-grained, cabinet Wood such as walnut, mahogany or the like to provide the proper ornamental eifect and is formed to a more or less conventional shield shape such as often forms the field for many heraldic devices. The edge is suitably chamfered as illustrated at 11 in keeping with the ornamental appearance of the device and prominently displayed in the center is a large bas-helief ornament 12 which comprises the insignia of an organization to which the owner belongs or is otherwise associated. The one illustrated is that of the United States Marine Corps cast in bronze or other suitable metal and polished and highlighted in accordance with the intent of its designer. Obviously, the insignia may be that of the Army, Navy or the Air Corps of any country, or any of the various devices representing fraternal organizations, honorary societies and the like whose officers and/or members are equipped with swords for use on state occasions or in the normal carrying out of their duty. As seen in the drawing, in FIGURE 1 appropriate hanging eyes 14 are provided on the rear face of the plaque near its upper corners whereby it may be supported from a pair of hooks secured in a wall, a panel or other suitable display surface whereby the whole device may be hung out of the way and yet form an ornament to room or ofiice.

Mounted below the insignia, which occupies a large portion of the area of the plaque or shield, may be provided a plate 15 on which the owners name and rank may be engraved.

In order to store the owners sword and at the same time put it on display means are provided in the rear face of the shield 14) for holding the sword which is mounted in its scabbard so that the grip 16 and guard 17 are displayed to the upper right, preferably with the guard down as illustrated and the lower end or tip of the scabbard 18 presented pointing downwardly near the lower left side.

Such mounting of the sword and its scabbard is conveniently done by constructing the shield or plaque 10 of suflicient thickness to receive a groove or channel 19 in the back face thereof without cutting through the front face, except at the chamfers as seen at 20 and 21. The groove is of appropriate depth and width to loosely receive the scabbard and the latter may be secured therein in any convenient manner. As shown, there is an upwardly projecting lateral cavity 22 extending from the upper side of the groove 19 near the upper corner and this is fitted with a hook 23 over which one of the rings 24, mounted on the upper edge of the scabbard, may be passed to hang the scabbard in position. If, as in the case of most swords, the scabbard is fitted with two such rings for attaching to straps depending from the wearers belt, one such ring may be provided at a position beyond the plaque edge, as shown, so as to make the device more universal, and for accommodating scabbards having only the lower ring, a felt covered turn button 25 may be provided on a pivot 26 fixed at one side of the groove so that the button may be turned over the groove to hold the lower portion of the scabbard in position therein.

Such a turn button may be a relatively thin plate of metal, as seen in FIGURE 3, so as not to protrude substantially beyond the flat back surface of the shield.

By mounting means just disclosed the sword in its scabbard may be quickly secured in position in the groove on the plaque with its guard and lower ends protruding for display and adding materially to the ornamental characteristics of the plaque and insignia.

Various modifications suggest themselves as regards the shape and material of the plaque or shield and for the ornament. For cheaper devices, instead of making the ornament of cast bronze, it could be combined with the shield or plaque and molded from plastic material with the groove for the sword formed during the molding operation. Various types of plastics suggest themselves and the surface ornamentation thereof may be varied to suit the wishes of the owner. Clearly, plastics having wood coloring may be used for the background and metal coloring for the ornamentation.

Having disclosed the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A sword holder plaque adapted to be hung on a wall or the like and comprising a generally fiat'base of conventionalize'd shield configuration, ornamental means in bas-relief on the front face of said shield and comprising the insignia of an organization some of whose members on occasions wear swords in scabbards, said base being thicker than the narrower dimension of said scabbard and being provided in its rear face with a groove of a depth to accommodate said dimension and of a width to loosely receive the wider dimension of the scabbard, said groove extending diagonally across said rear face to receive the Scabbard and being of substantially less length than the latter, and means to hold the scabbard and its sword in said groovefor displaying their extending ends with the plaque.

2. A sword holder plaque for wall display including a base of shield configuration of less width than the length of the sword Scabbard and thicker than its narrower dimension, a cast ornament in has-relief on the front face of said shield comprising the insignia of an organization some of whose members on occasion wear swords in scabbards, each having at least one supporting ring along its upper edge, said shield having a groove sized in crosssection to easily receive the intermediate portion of the scabbard and extending diagonally across the back thereof whereby the shield may be hung substantially fiat against a wall, means on the back of said shield to hang the same and a hook in an offset to the said groove to receive said ring.

3. The sword holder plaque as defined in claim 2 in which said hook is near the upper end of said groove and means near the opposite end of the groove for movement thereover to hold the scabbard therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,495,866 Perry et al Jan. 31, 1950 

2. A SWORD HOLDER PLAQUE FOR WALL DISPLAY INCLUDING A BASE OF SHIELD CONFIGURATION OF LESS WIDTH THAN THE LENGTH OF THE SWORD SCABBARD AND THICKER THAN ITS NARROWER DIMENSION, A CAST ORNAMENT IN BAS-RELIEF ON THE FRONT FACE OF SAID SHIELD COMPRISING THE INSIGNIA OF AN ORGANIZATION SOME OF WHOSE MEMBERS ON OCCASION WEAR SWORDS IN SCABBARDS, EACH HAVING AT LEAST ONE SUPPORTING RING ALONG ITS UPPER EDGE, SAID SHIELD HAVING A GROOVE SIZED IN CROSSSECTION TO EASILY RECEIVE THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF THE SCABBARD AND EXTENDING DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE BACK THEREOF WHEREBY THE SHIELD MAY BE HUNG SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT AGAINST A WALL, MEANS ON THE BACK OF SAID SHIELD TO HANG THE SAME AND A HOOK IN AN OFFSET TO THE SAID GROOVE TO RECEIVE SAID RING. 